[520]

Ugb..

[nandanrp]

Originally Posted by 520hpSTi

Ugb..

No, UGB for spending that much money to keep your damn hood open

[AWD_OWNZ_U]

Originally Posted by 520hpSTi

^^ skyline is going to be well over the 50k mark i beileve.

how bout the new supra 2008 and in the 30k range.

I should be able to swing 50-60k if I really wanted. I dunno if it would be worth it though. I'd like to grab something in the 40s at most. Maybe a used Skyline after a bit. I hope the new Supra is in the 30k range, maybe the old ones will drop out there then. haha

Originally Posted by nandanrp

75-80K for the Skyline...you could afford it if you own that house of yours outright. Salary...what do garbage men make these days?

Haha, low mortgage FTW man. Garbage men? Probably about the same as you do. lol You'd be surprised.

Originally Posted by nandanrp

(Speaking of shifter bushings, remember back in the day when I drove your car and said "Jeez, you want a SHORTER shift? Your car's is already so damn short!" I get it now. Fast forward three years, and I have a Cobb double adjustable short-shifter on the way, and will be doing TiC and Kartboy shifter bushings )

I knew you would eventually. lol I still feel like I'm driving a bus with my Kartboy. haha You should really like that setup. Hopefully it will be shorter than mine.

[520]

the supra is said to compete against the z, so it will be in the 30's for sure almost.

oh and nan, they came with the car FTW!!!!!!!!1

[nandanrp]

Originally Posted by AWD_OWNZ_U

I should be able to swing 50-60k if I really wanted. I dunno if it would be worth it though. I'd like to grab something in the 40s at most. Maybe a used Skyline after a bit. I hope the new Supra is in the 30k range, maybe the old ones will drop out there then. haha

Balla! Legacy STi, you know you want one.

Originally Posted by AWD_OWNZ_U

I knew you would eventually. lol I still feel like I'm driving a bus with my Kartboy. haha You should really like that setup. Hopefully it will be shorter than mine.

I didn't think the STi linkage would ever feel long...it's not LONG now but I feel like there's room for improvement

Originally Posted by 520hpSTi

oh and nan, they came with the car FTW!!!!!!!!1

So, would you pay for them new?

[AWD_OWNZ_U]

Originally Posted by 520hpSTi

the supra is said to compete against the z, so it will be in the 30's for sure almost.

That would be nice. I'm sure the Skyline will be a lot faster though.

Originally Posted by nandanrp

Balla! Legacy STi, you know you want one.

Fool you know I can't drive one because my leg cramps up after like half an hour. Stupid wierd japanese pedal positions.

Originally Posted by nandanrp

I didn't think the STi linkage would ever feel long...it's not LONG now but I feel like there's room for improvement

There almost always is my friend.

[nandanrp]

Originally Posted by AWD_OWNZ_U

Fool you know I can't drive one because my leg cramps up after like half an hour. Stupid wierd japanese pedal positions.

[Pastapuck]

Have any vids of your TBE? Love the car

[nandanrp]

Originally Posted by Pastapuck

Have any vids of your TBE? Love the car

Unfortunately no videos yet, maybe in two weeks when I'm back home and have access to my parents' DV cam

Honestly though I don't think microphones do these cars justice, they pick up more road noise than human ears do

[nandanrp]

So the car got most of it's winter prep this past weekend (I might buy a set of black/black RallyArmor flaps soon) and then I also installed the Cobb double adjustable short shifter, Kartboy front shifter stay bushing, Kartboy rear shifter stay bushing, TiC shifter bushings, and TiC pivot bushings. I also got some trick new wiper blades



I got all the bushings from TiC (TurninConcepts.com - awesome guys ) and the Cobb SS from my buddy kts262 who was too lazy to install the damn thing

The install took me a few hours, getting the linkage out was an interesting exercise because of how tight the space is underneath the car. I had to remove all the tranny bracing (dammit, if I had known ALL of it was coming out, I would have done the KB tranny bushings too, like everyone had recommended...I didn't realize it would be so straight forward!). Once I got the bolt off the front stay, the hard part was removing this stupid 1/4" pin that connects the shift linkage to the shifter fork deal on the tranny. Knocking that pin out literally took me 30-45 minutes because it was kind of hard to reach. Once the linkage was out, it was pretty smooth sailing getting all the bushings in and replacing the shift lever with the Cobb unit. Getting it all back in was easier too.

So here are some pics!

Swapping on the winters...man the 225 Contis are narrow compared to the 225 RE070s


All swapped and ready to start on the bushings!



All the trim surrounding the shifter removed, one last look at the (optional) STi short shift kit:


The shifter trim plate removed. Due to the pivot point being higher, Cobb recommends trimming the metal plate so that the shifter arm doesn't scrape on it (also allows you to set the shifts to their shortest position). I followed the template shown in the directions Cobb sends with their lever.


The metal looks thick and tough, but a hacksaw and a dremmel with heavy duty cutting wheels made quick work of it...



It's tight under the car...the front stay bolt is removed, and somewhere up there is a pin you have to punch out to get the linkage free Took some time! The big shiny thing in the foreground is the cat portion of my Cobb downpipe.


With the lever finall out, this is the view from inside the car (did I mention the driveshaft also is in your way? ):


The linkage is out!


After hearing about people having trouble getting the Kartboy rear stay in, I decided I would immediately try to get that in. If it didn't go willingly, I was going to skip it alltogether.

Stock (on the left) vs. the Kartboy rear stay on the right:


I used a TON of antiseize to lubricate the threads of the larger bolts, hoping it would go in smooth. I have concluded that Kartboy cuts the tolerance so close on these pieces, that you have to be very careful or the piece is likely to make the bolt go in at an angle and cross-thread. I got the driver side bolt in easy, but the passenger side bolt wasn't going in very well (mostly because the bushing was pushing the bolt such that it wouldn't thread smoothly). So I got the bolt started, and once it felt like it was starting to cross thread, I got my ratchet and VERY lightly torqued it, and to my pleasant surprise it threaded smoothly. Took a few tries but I got both bolts in and torqued to spec. Here it is, installed, covered in antiseize and grease (it goes right above the driveshaft)



Now that the rear stay was in, I was pretty sure the rest would be smooth sailing. Next up, the front stay bushings. KB on the right, stock on the left...


And installed on the linkage:


After that I did the TiC shifter bushings. No pictures, because the bushings look nearly the same...the TiC ones are just a lot harder. Needed my vice to get them into the tubes!

Cobb double adjustable vs. STi short shift lever. Obviously the Cobb isn't set to the proper length in the picture...



Honestly the hardest part about installing the Cobb lever was getting the C-clip out of the shift linkage. It might be easier when the linkage is in the car, but with it flopping around in my hands it was a bit tougher. Getting the reverse lockout cable INTO the Cobb shifter after installing it was probably easier with the linkage out though; I easily had enough slack, and using my 3/32" punch I was able to get the reverse pin in with minimal effort.


Got the linkage back in the car with minimal pain...getting the pin back in was much easier than getting it out. The money shot:







The rest was a matter of putting it all back together. Overall, I'm very happy with the shift feel - there is damn near NO play now. Millimeters at best. There is increased effort with the Cobb, but the shift is easily 1/2" to 1" shorter now, so it's a tradeoff. I hope to get used to it though. There is more NVH with the stiffer bushings, but I personally like the tranny whine Only minor annoyance with the shifter being so tight now is that the 05+ knobs have the plastic shift pattern on top, and when accelerating or cruising on the highway, the plastic trim on the shifter has a
tendency to rattle. A lot. I might be looking for a new shift knob soon!

Finally, pics of the winter setup...I miss the goldies already




And two shots of my new wiper blades They are Innovision blades by Trico (resold by NAPA). No springs, they are curved blades and very low profile for (supposedly) lower wind resistance. So far so good, we'll see how they last. My stock blades lasted 18K miles! I use Rain-X washer fluid (coats your windshield with Rain-X every time you spray and it works really well).






Last mod for 2006 might be RallyArmor flaps

EDIT:

Ok, here's a list of the links I remember using for my short-shifter and bushing install:

• TiC shift linkage bushings install
• TiC Pivot Bushing instructions
• HSPN Video for Cobb Short-shifter install (some of it will be similar for the KB shifter)
• ScoobyMods: Pivot bushings for FXT (similar)
• Scoobymods: rear stay bushing for FXT
• ScoobyMods: Kartboy Transmission bushing install on an FXT (this thread is good to reference because it shows you pictures of the transmission bracing you need to remove).

The TiC one posted earlier is the main one to use, but the other threads were nice to reference sometimes for the pictures... ScoobyMods also does a great job posting all the torque specs and pictures from the service manual.

[520]

nice, rally armors are sweet. Lemme know how the wipers work, i need new ones.

[nandanrp]

My uncle swears by these Innovision blades so I figured I'd give them a shot. I got factory inserts for free at the dealer under warranty, but I'm keeping those for backup and waiting to see how these wear.

They weren't lifting at 80+ mph though, which is a good sign... $35 for both though, which is more than the old $5 "Car and Driver" blades I used to buy at Target (they work damn well ...except the C&D blades lift at high speeds)

[nandanrp]

Oh yeah, also forgot to thank Kurt (Muffnbluff) for helpful tips to get the shifter install done. He had a less-than-smooth install himself a few weeks before, so hearing what problems he had really made my install less painless! Thanks man!

[spazegun2213]

Very nice nan!!! Although it sucks you had to trim the shifter plate in order for the SS to fit.

Also, how do you like the winter tires?

oh and i highly recommend the Prodrive shift knob. [borat]its niiiiiiice![/borat]

[nandanrp]

Originally Posted by spazegun2213

Very nice nan!!! Although it sucks you had to trim the shifter plate in order for the SS to fit.

Also, how do you like the winter tires?

oh and i highly recommend the Prodrive shift knob. [borat]its niiiiiiice![/borat]

I was actually thinking about a black Prodrive shift knob It's metal, right (not plastic)?

Yeah the Cobb lever lets you set the pivot so high that the linkage will scrape that plate when you shift into 1st gear. Honestly I don't know why Subaru cut that plate in that shape in the first place Also, there's these two studs in that plate which have NO use (I cut em off ).

I like the tires. They are admittedly soft compared to the RE070s (hell, what isn't soft compared to those) but they are a good all-weather tire. Did great in snow/ice, and since we only had two sizable snow storms last year, they fit the bill perfectly since they still have some sporting premise to them. Your Neros are probably better in the dry, but the Contis are rated better for ice traction, which was why I went with the Contis.